


Resistance is Futile

by misslynn_99



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Genre: F/M, Romance Humor Apritello TMNT April O'Neil Donatello
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-06
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-22 16:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misslynn_99/pseuds/misslynn_99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Just face it April, according to several studies, girls usually go for guys who remind them of their fathers. This Donnie guy and your father are so alike, it's scary." What happens when April is cornered into a girl's night, and to make her feel better, the turtles offer to throw a party for when she gets back? What surprises could happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Hello my wonderful readers! This was kind of inspired by my _Donnie's Musical Moments_ story, but I decided it would be too long and deserved to be a story by it's self, since I plan on giving it multiple chapters. I hope you enjoy it. **

It was another peaceful afternoon, hanging out with the turtles when her phone started ringing. She answered and to her surprise, it was an old friend of hers.

"Yeah, uh-hu, I'll talk to my aunt, Ok?" She muttered to the phone.

"Who was that?' Leo asked.

"An old friend of mine. She says she misses me and wants to have a girl's night tomorrow." She said distastefully.

"What's a girl's night and why don't you like them?" Mikey inquired.

"It's where girls have like a sleep over where they do each other's hair, nails, watch sappy or scary movies, play would you rather or truth or dare, complain about their problems and talk about boys and crushes." She wrinkled up her nose.

"Huh, I thought you would have enjoyed stuff like that." He replied.

"If I was that girly, do you think I would hang out with a bunch of mutated reptiles in a sewer and train in martial arts?" She responded dryly.

"No..." He trailed off.

"Exactly, and I know I'll be stuck doing it, because my aunt has been harping at me to spend time with my other friends." She sighed

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, we could have our own party here after you get back." Donnie volunteered.

She could feel herself brighten. "Really?"

"S-s-sure!" He stuttered with his cheeks a rosy shade of pink. Why was he embarrassed?

"Are you guys up for it?" She asked, and they all nodded. "Thanks! Awesome idea Donnie!" She leaned over to where he sat and gave him a quick hug. The pink flared into red, and she still didn't know what he was embarrassed about.

"Who is your best friend anyways?" Leo asked.

"Her name is Ellie Johanson. She's quite a bit shorter than I am, with a big attitude to make up for it. She has coppery brown hair and grey eyes, and she's been a good friend of mine since we met in a ballet class we both took."

"You, take ballet?" Raph looked at her incredulously.

"Yeah, I was forced to, but once Ellie and I met, we wrecked havoc in the class. We managed to get ourselves kicked out of the class, much to our delight." She remembered with a chuckle.

"So how is the girl's night a bad thing?" Leo inquired.

"She's too curious for her own good." She sighed. "She's going to want to know who all of you are, what you look like, how do I know you guys, and why do I hang out with you so much. She's tried doing stuff like this before, because all she knows is I hang out with four guys a lot and it is vital that my aunt doesn't know about them."

"Why don't you just lie then?" Raph said bluntly.

She glared at him. "It is very, _very_ bad to lie to your good friends."

"I'm sure you can think of something. Besides, how's she going to know you're lying? It's not like she's ever going to see us." Donnie reasoned.

"I guess." she reluctantly admitted. "I still don't like it, though. I better get going, to get 'ready'. Bye guys, I'll see you after this stupid sleep over."

A chorus of "Bye!" 's followed her as she left the cozy lair, and trudged back home. She glanced up at the sky, and was surprised to see how clear it was. There might have even been a star visible amongst the helicopter and airplane lights above.

She finally arrived back at the apartment, "Hey!" She called to her aunt. "Ellie wants to have a girl's night at her house, mind if I go? "

"Sure! You go right ahead!" She gushed, eager to send her on her way. "You've been neglecting your best friend for the new ones you hang out with all the time. What are their names again."

"Uhhh, Donitelle, Michaela, Leona, and Rachael. "

"Oh! Ok, I remember you telling me that now." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok, I'm going to go call Ellie and tell her that I'm going."

"Good!"

As soon as she reached her room, she pulled out her phone and texted Ellie to tell her the news. Her reply was almost instantaneous, gushing about how much fun it was going to be. She inwardly groaned, _I better start thinking of lies now._

* * *

**To everyone watching me for updates, especially for How it all started; I'M SO SORRY! I've been super busy, plus, I've become obsessed with TMNT, and a bunch of other stuff. I've been visiting one of my sisters, helping to plan a party, and taking care of my mom because she has hernia surgery tomorrow. I haven't had a bunch of time to write, and I didn't think I could write anything else until this idea was out of my head. I promise that Ellie is only going to be a minor character, and the main focus is going to be set on Apritello.  This is my story, which was originally posted on Fanfiction.net. I hope I can update more later, and be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April finally goes over to Ellie's house, and later finds someone had been unintentionally eavesdropping on them. Who could it be?

**Hello my lovely readers! I'm super excited for this chapter. I don't and never will own TMNT, although I really wish I did. Anyways, here it is!**

She grabbed a bag out of her closet and started haphazardly filling it with items for the night. She shoved in her small collection of nail polish, her curling iron that she used for rare occasions, and a CD with some music. Then, she put in pajamas, clothes for the morning, her favorite dress, and two pairs of shoes; her fuzzy boots and a pair of never-worn heels.

She groaned again. This was going to be a long night. Despite the fact that she was klutzy and messy, Ellie was one of the girliest people she knew. There was no way she was escaping a head-to-toe make over. There was no doubt in her mind that there would be photos as well.

_Better start thinking of those lies,_ she thought to herself. First, she would tell Ellie that Leo was about medium height, with bright blue eyes, short, clipped black hair and a stern expression. Then, she would tell her that Mikey was fairly short, with light blue eyes and messy blond hair with a goofy grin. Raph would be described as tall and muscular, with green eyes, medium length black hair, and a near-permanent angry scowl. She would say that Donnie was tall and lanky, with twinkling, chestnut brown eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, wavy, light brown hair, and a look of concentration with a soft smile that showed the gap between his teeth always plastered on his face. She didn't know why, but it seemed like what they would look like if they were human.

Content with how they would be described, she decided she would tell Ellie that they were all siblings, adopted by their father, who worked as a martial arts instructor. She would say that she met them by seeing them at a pizza place, and they invited her to hang out with them, and she continued because they were really nice and funny. She wouldn't have to lie about their personalities, so that just about covered everything Ellie would want to know.

Finally, she grabbed her custom-made laptop and shoved it into her bag, and headed back down the stairs. To her surprise, her aunt was already waiting with the keys to the car. Now, there was no way she was getting out of it.

"I'll just drive you there, ok?' Her aunt said; it wasn't really a question.

"Alright."

It was a quick drive, less than fifteen minutes, which must have been a record for New York. Her aunt ushered her out, and walked her up to the door, where they were greeted by Mrs. Johanson.

"Hello April! It's been such a long time since you've been over here! How's things been going?"

"Good, thank you." She made an effort to smile politely.

"Ellie's upstairs, so you two can catch up while I finish making dinner. ' She turned to her aunt. "Thanks for bringing her."

"No problem." Her aunt smiled back.

Wordlessly, she climbed the steps and went to where she remembered Ellie's room being. She was greeted with a squeal and a bear hug upon opening the door.

"Can't... breathe," She gasped.

"Oh!" Ellie released her hug.

She glanced down and pointed. "What happened to your ankle?

"I sprained it trying to dance at my aunt's wedding." She flashed a goofy smile.

"Always the klutz, aren't you? At least that brace will keep it from spraining again."

"You know it. Now, I'm gonna cut right to the chase; who are those four guys you've been spending all your time with? I've just been _dying_ to know."

"Fine! The first one is Leo, and he is medium height with shortly clipped black hair. He has bright blue eyes, and always looks really stern, which suits his personality, I guess. He's the oldest. Then, there's Mikey. He is pretty short, just a little bit taller than me, with messy dirty blond hair. His eyes are a lighter blue, and he has this goofy smile. He is the youngest and the most immature. Then, there's Raph. Don't ever call him Ralph, he absolutely hates that. Anyways, he's fairly tall, and muscular. He has kind of long black hair and green eyes, and he almost always scowls. He's a bit of a hot head and he's the second youngest. The last one is Donnie, and he has wavy, light brown hair and chestnut brown eyes, although he wears glasses. He's really tall; the tallest of all of them, but he's pretty lean rather than bulky like Raph. He's second oldest and the smart one, and he always has a look of concentration and a soft smile, which shows the gap between his teeth."

"Oh! Raph and Leo sound kinda hot, Mikey sounds adorable, and that Donnie sounds like your usual nerd type."

"I don't have a nerd type." She pouted slightly.

"Remember Steven Marshal? Total nerd, and you had a huge crush on him for like a year."

"That was a long time ago." She defended herself, with a red blush splashed across her cheeks.

"Or what about Ronald Frank? Another total nerd you liked. Wasn't he big into computers?"

She chose not to dignify that with a response.

"So." Ellie drawled. "Do you like this Donnie guy?"

"He's nice and all, but-" She was cut off my Ellie.

"I see it now. You're in denial. Don't worry, I think you'll realize it soon enough, and I'll get an invite you your guy's wedding. What's he like, other than being 'the smart one' ?"

"I don't like him. Well, I mean he's _super_ smart. Like, next big scientist smart. " She plucked her laptop out of her bag. "He customly made my laptop. He's built his own network of computers and satellites. He's really good with solving puzzles and problems, and he gets embarrassed really easy. It seems like whenever I see him he's blushing."

"Oh. M. G! He sooo has a crush on you." Ellie cackled. "And you're too in denial to see it, as well as to realize you like him too."

"No! We're just... really good friends, that's all."

Ellie quieted her own laughter and looked at her seriously. "Just face it April, according to several studies, girls usually go for guys who remind them of their fathers. This Donnie guy and your father are so alike, it's scary."

"Are... Oh my god. They are alike." She realized.

"Ha! I told you so. You've got a nerd fetish, just because your dad's a science-y guy."

'I still don't like Donnie, though." She muttered.

"We'll see about that." Ellie snickered. "Let's get started though! I'm going to put in that new remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It just came out. It's called the Beauty and the Brain. We can do each other's hair first. I'll do yours, then you'll do mine."

"Alright." She sighed in defeat.

"Yay!" Ellie squealed, and raced off to get her hair tools. She sighed again. It would probably take the entire movie for Ellie to do her hair.

Ellie returned shortly, with a teetering stack of items in her arms. Unceremoniously, she dumped them on the bed and stuck in the movie. She sat down and allowed Ellie to start doing her hair. At least Ellie knew what she was doing.

Ellie promptly pulled her hair out of its usual ponytail while she started to watch the movie. It was rather interesting. The guy, who was a nerd, had a crush on a really pretty and popular girl, who acts like a jerk to him. She got into an accident which left her unrecognizable, and she decided to transfer schools so she could be spared the 'shame'. A year later, the nerd transferred to the same school that she was going to, and she and the nerd slowly became friends. Finally, the nerd asks the girl to a mascaraed dance, but she says no, and shows up later and tells the guy who she really was and apologizes for being so mean, and they get together.

'Done!" Ellie exclaimed triumphantly. "Take a look." She handed her a mirror.

Her hair had been done in the biggest, bounciest curls she had ever seen. She looked at the styling tool that Ellie had used, and was astonished. The curling iron must have been three inches in diameter.

"My turn!" They switched spots. Browsing, she finally picked a waiving iron, and worked quickly. She was done before even half of the second movie, Geek Charming, was over. It may have helped that Ellie's hair barely fell past her shoulders, whilst hers fell well below the middle of her back when it wasn't in a ponytail.

She handed Ellie the mirror as soon as she was done. "Hm, not bad for someone who never does their hair. Now, I'll do both out our make up. I don't trust you to do my face. You'd probably put lip gloss on my eyes and Kohl on my lips."

She couldn't help but agree. As anyone who was around her knew, she never did her make up, ever.

"So." Ellie drawled while lining her lashes with this weird black stuff. "When do you next plan on hanging out with those guys?"

"Well, they wanted me to come over tomorrow, and have our own little mini-party."

"Oh! Are you gonna dance with Donnie boy while you're there?"

"No, I don't really plan on dancing at all."

"But that'll break poor Donnie boy's heart.

"Why do you keep calling him Donnie boy?"

"Because that's what your contact name for him is." Ellie pointed to her t-phone. She had removed all of the pictures from the contacts, luckily, but she had forgotten to change the name back to just Donnie.

"And, it looks like you've butt-dialed him. I wonder how much he's heard."

* * *

**I am super evil. I have left you with the worst cliff hanger ever. MWUHAHAHA! Anyways, let me know what you think in the reviews! More reviews inspire me to write more.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's just what Donnie heard... Mwhaha

**Hello my lovely readers! I was super surprised at the giant wave of reviews within the past day. I loved it! I will stop my evil streak, for now, and answer the question all of you are dying to know. How much did Donnie hear? You'll have to read to find out!**

He tinkered with the receiver he had set up with the phones. "Yes!" He whispered excitedly. "It connected." After about twenty minutes of fiddling, he had managed to activate the internal recording and tracking device within April's T-phone. It should have brought up the screen, to make it look like she was on the phone with him. He'd be able to hear everything she said, but she'd wouldn't be able to hear him. It was perfect!

"Hey Donnie, what did you say?" Raph called from the other room.

"Nothing!" He yelled back, a little too quickly.

He thought he heard him mutter something along the lines of "Yeah right," but he ignored it.

Before he knew it, all three of his brothers had entered his lab, following Raph.

April and her friend chose that moment to start talking. What horrible timing; he hadn't even connected the headphones yet.

April's voice was clearly audible. _"Can't... breathe."_ The sound startled his brothers.

Mikey, surprisingly, was the first to regain his wits. "How are you doing that, bro?" He gaped in awe.

Leo was next. "Are you spying on her?'

"No! I'm not spying! I just have to know! She said they'd be talking about boys and crushes, and I have to know!"

Raph, although he had obviously understood what he was referring to, felt the need to torment him further by asking with a smirk, "And what is that exactlyt you need to know, Donnie?"

His head hung and he shifted his gaze to the floor, too embarrassed to make eye contact. "If April likes me." He whispered dryly.

A different voice could be heard, and he hissed "Shut up, you can listen if you want but you have to be quiet!"

_"Oh! Raph and Leo sound kinda hot, Mikey sounds adorable, and that Donnie sounds like your usual nerd-type."_

You could practically hear the pout on her face. _"I don't have a nerd type."_

_"Remember Steven Marshal? Total nerd, and you had a huge crush on him for like a year."_

_"That was a long time ago."_ He could practically feel April's embarrassment for her.

_"What about Ronald Frank? Another total nerd you liked. Wasn't he big into computers? "_

April didn't even respond to that one.

"Hey Donnie, at least you've got something going for ya." Raph maliciously teased.

He simply smoldered at him. Finally came the big question. _"So, do you like this Donnie guy?"_

_"He's nice and all, but-"_ April didn't even get to finish her sentence.

_"I see it now. You're in denial. Don't worry, I think you'll realize it soon enough, and I'll get an invite to your guy's wedding. What's he like, other than being 'the smart one?' "_

_"I don't like him. "_ He could hear her mutter defensively. She seemed to brighten after she continued speaking. _"Well, I mean super smart. Like next big scientist smart."_ A faint rustling could be heard. _"He customly built my laptop for me. He's built his own network of computers and satalites. He's really good with solving problems and puzzles, and he gets embarrassed easily. Whenever I see him, he always seems to be blushing."_

_Oh. M. G! He sooooo has a crush on you!" the best friend cackled. "And you're too in denial to see it, as well as to realize it, as well as to realize you like him too!"_

He felt his cheeks boil red, and heard his brothers fall down in hysteric laughter. Some human girl, who had never met him, could guess his biggest secret and point it out to his crush, but she refuse to acknowledge it. His heart broke with what April said next.

_"No! We're just... really good friends, that's all."_

Her friend's humor quickly faded, and spoke seriously. _"Just face it, April. According to several studies, girls usually go for guys who remind them of their fathers. This Donnie guy and your father are so alike, it's scary."_

_"Are... Oh my god. They are alike."_

_"Ha! I told you so. You've got a nerd fetish just because your dad is a science-y guy."_

"Ya hear that, Donnie? April's got a nerd fetish! You better keep up that boring ramble about unimportant stuff! It might just turn her on!" Raph rasped out between guffaws.

"Nerd fetish!" Mikey chortled hysterically.

_"I still don't like him."_ April muttered.

_"We'll see about that."_ The friend snickered. Then she went on about something like hair, and a movie they were going to watch.

"Did you catch what movie they're watching, Donnie? They're watching The beauty and the brain. Remind you of anything?"

"No," He almost growled. They sat in silence after that, and listened to a random stream of comments for during the movie, mostly about hair, before finally, the friend said something about make up, and shortly afterwards, _"So, do you plan on dancing with Donnie boy while you're at that party?"_

_"No, I don't really plan on dancing at all."_

_"But that'll break poor Donnie boy's heart."_

_"Why do you keep calling him Donnie boy?"_

_"Because that's what your contact name for him is, and it looks like you've butt-dialed him. I wonder how much he's heard."_

_"Eeep!"_ April half-shrieked. _'End it! End it now!"_

_"Nope!"_ Replied the friend.

_"Give me my phone back!"_

_'Never! Hey Donnie boy, if you can hear, April loves you and wants to marry you. Just be persistent and blunt. You'll get her eventually!"_

_"Ellie!"_ April moaned, obviously mortified. _"Knock it off!"_

_"What kind of a best friend would I be if I let you miss out on your soul mate? "_

_"A not-embarrassing one!"_

_"She's taking the phone from me. Just remember Donnie! Be blunt, persistent, and a nerd. She digs the nerds."_

The line abruptly ended.

"Best. Phone call. EVER!" Mikey exclaimed. "I haven't laughed this much in I don't know when."

"It'll be ok, Donnie." Leo chuckled.

"Yeah, if her friend's right, it's only a short matter of time before April falls in love with you." Raph mocked.

"Go away." He growled.

"What ever you say." Leo responded with a glint in his eyes. "Come on guys." With that, the rest of his brothers left his lab, leaving him thoroughly embarrassed and with a bruised ego.

**Yay! How was that? Incase you were wondering, basically, Donnie hacked into his own servers, connect an internal recording device in April's phone to his computer, and connect the lines between her phone and his so that he could listen in on her.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, beautiful readers! I've been so busy, so sorry it's a little short.**

"Why did you do that?" She moaned into the bed.

"Because I'm your best friend." Ellie responded saucily. "Now get up, you'll ruin what I've already done.'

Since there was no point in arguing with her, she obliged, and Ellie continued doing her face. Apparently, she was much quicker with make up than she was with hair, because only fifteen minutes later, she was done with her entire face, and set to work on her own.

She couldn't help but stare in the mirror. It was her, but it wasn't her at the same time. The reflection she was used to had freckles smudged at the apples of her cheeks, sparse lashes, and limp hair pulled back into a ponytail. The reflection she was looking at had a flawless complexion, thick, full black lashes, and voluminous, shiny curls framing her face. All of her basic features were still there, but masked. Ellie had even done her eyes a bright purple, and her lips a sparkly, peachy pink. She couldn't decide whether or not she liked it.

Before she could decide, Ellie pulled her towards her and snapped a picture. "There!" She smiled smugly. "Now, I'm sending this to all of your guy-friends, plus my phone," She muttered. "And done! Now, Donnie gets to see you all dressed up, and since it's been sent to other phones, even if you delete it, it still exists." She finished proudly.

"You know, just because you're my best friend, doesn't stop me from temporarily hating you."

"I know." She replied in an 'innocent' voice. 'But you'll get over it."

She glowered. "Anyways, up next on my agenda is... Truth or dare!"

"Why?" She complained.

"Because, it's tradition! We've played truth or dare at every sleep over we've ever had."

"Fine. But I get to ask the questions first."

"Ok!"

"So Ellie, truth, or dare?"

"Truth!" She answered. It's what she expected. She was known for evil dares, and Ellie was known for evil truths.

"Hmm, who do you currently have a crush on, right now?" This would give her a little bit of blackmailing power, just enough to keep her quiet about Donnie. _Not that I have anything to hide about Donnie, other than he's a ninja turtle._ She thought to herself.

"Hmm, well, a bunch of people. Joe LaRoss, the new quarter back is pretty hot. The new student body president, George Jefferson, he's really nice and cute too, and then Leo, Mikey, and Raph, the guys you talked about all sounded pretty hot."

"Boy crazy." She muttered.

"My turn! Truth or dare?"

"Dare," she responded uncertainly.

Ellie's eyes glinted for a second, before her brow furrowed in concentration. She definitely did not like the smirk on Ellie's face.

"You said that you and the guys are having like a mini-party, right?"

"Yeah," She wasn't sure where Ellie was going with this.

"Well then, I dare you to do karaoke at the party, to We belong together and Touch my body, by Mariah Carey. The official video has to be in the background for Touch my body, and you have to make sure," She leaned and whispered in her ear. "Or," She whispered the other person's name. "Sees it. Plus, you need to record it so I can be sure you're not lying."

"But they don't have a karaoke machine." She thought she might have one-upped her best friend, but she was surprised.

"I'll send mine with

Mortification gripped her. "Is there anything else I can do?" She begged.

"Nope." Ellie grinned wickedly.

"What's the price for forfeiting, again?"

"I get to call Rachel and have her put anything I want about you in the school newspaper."

"And what would you put?"

'I would have her put in a fake letter, to Josh Robinson, saying that you wanted to marry him and have his babies, and to be at your house at midnight."

She scowled. Josh had been her personal stalker for several months now. He was practically obsessed. "I know Rachel wouldn't do that."

"You've forgotten. Rachel likes playing matchmaker even more than I do. Trust me, she would."

Rachel was the editor of the school newspaper, AKA, the only reason why it was still worth reading. She was short and delicate, even shorter than Ellie, with almost platinum blonde hair, pale and clear white skin, and wide, blue eyes on a round, youthful face and a small, round mouth. She was the definition of kind. She was very accurately nick named 'kitten' by most of the guys at school. Calling Rachel tough and mean would be about like calling an angry porcupine cute and cuddly. Just like a kitten, she loved critters of all sorts, and even though she was gentle, could still use her claws if she had to, or better known as, her keyboard.

"Fine. I pick," She whispered her choice into Ellie's ear.

Her wicked grin grew wider. "Excellent decision."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello my beautiful reader, there's a reference to DMM in here too, see if you can catch it. I actually lost this chapter once, while I was working on it on a PC rather than my laptop, and we had a thunderstorm that made us lose power. I lost everything that I had been working on. Then, I though I'd have plenty of time to work on it, but I was wrong, because my niece came down with chicken pox, and we had to disinfect our entire house. Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

A chorus of ringtones when off at the lair while the they were holding a video game tournament. Leo had already lost, he had created the game, so there was no point in him playing, and Raph and Mikey were still viciously competing.

As soon as he heard 'I'd love to say I could hold myself together but I can't help but come unglued, Every time I see you. Ohh every time I see you', he scrambled to find his phone. It was a text from April, and he was astonished. Was she wearing... make-up? What was she thinking? He though she looked fine just how she was, imperfections and all.

"Is... is that April?" Leo wondered aloud.

"Huh?" Raph and Mikey replied at the same time; they hadn't even heard their phones ring because of how absorbed they were in the game.

"I think so." He answered Leo. "It's probably part of the make over she talked about, although I don't know why she'd send it to us."

"It probably wasn't her." Mikey responded absentmindedly. "It was probably that awesome Ellie chick."

He glared daggers at Mikey while he contemplated turning off the power.

...

"Pizza time!" Ellie's mom came into the room, carrying a large pizza for them. Mrs. Johanson was an excellent cook. She's started going to culinary school before she had met Mr. Johanson, and gotten pregnant. Regardless of schooling, she had ended up opening up her own restaurant on Rosewood Avenue, and had decent success.

The pizza looked like a new recipe. Mozzarella cheese was layered on thick, with teriyaki chicken, green peppers, and pepperoni.

"Eat up!" Mrs. Johanson smiled.

Eagerly, she took a bit into the pizza. "This is delicious." She moaned. "I need this recipe."

"It's brand new. You guys are tasting the trial run. I'll make a card up for you before you leave, just don't tell anyone else." She replied proudly before leaving the room.

Ellie then grabbed her huge bag of nail stuff. "We should do our nails now. Let's match them! I'll do yours in purple, and mine in orange. What do you want for the design?"

Smiling inwardly, she replied "A turtle."

"Perfect."

"So, how are things with you and Jason Rogers going?" She asked while Ellie was working on her nails.

She sighed sadly. "Not good. We just broke up yesterday. It's kinda why I wanted a girls' night. He was just so serious, all the time. I was being kind of goofy, and he got upset, so he dumped me."

With her free hand, she patted Ellie on the back. "Don't worry, there are more fish in the sea. One day, you'll find that crazy, funny, and carefree guy that's meant for you. This guy was just standing in the way."

"I know, it's just hard. He was my first boyfriend."

She continued to console her until Ellie was finished with their nails. "Finally! Now, for the last detail. We need to put on dresses, so we can take a picture. Then, I'll put it on Facebook to show that jerk what he's missing."

She agreed and played along, hoping to cheer her up. Having foreseen being forced into a dress, she proceeded to pull her yellow summer dress out of her bag. She was stopped by a vehement protest from Ellie. "No, you need to wear something purple; it'll match your nails and make-up. "

"Fine." She consented, letting her have her fun.

Ellie riffled through her closet, searching for whatever dress she had in mind. It ended up being a royal purple halter dress, with a full skirt that fell at about her knees. The dress that Ellie had picked out for herself was a chiffon, flowy, neon orange dress that had a sweetheart neckline and fell right below her knees.

In hindsight, her picks did make them appear to match rather well. Ellie had even done her make-up to match. She had a shimmery champagne color on her lids, with a pop of neon orange in the corner, with a corral-y pink lipstick.

After the picture was taken, and Ellie had done her fair share of gloating, she asked "Can I go and take the make up off and wet my hair now? "

Looking dead serious, a rarity, she responded, "No, because then I'll have to redo it in the morning for when you go to that party."

"What if I don-" Ellie cut her off.

"Trust me, you're going to that party like that. You look hot!" She teased, perking back up.

She sighed. Ellie always had some form of agenda, and this was no doubt part of it, although she didn't know what it was.

"So, what are you going as for Halloween? " Ellie asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe a kunoichi, or like a girl ninja."

"I'm going as a tiger. Don't forget, you, me, and Rachel have a date to go trick or treating together the day after tomorrow. We'll met at my house at 6:00."

"I won't." With that, they finally changed into pajamas, and went to sleep, although it took her a little while because Ellie made her wear this ridiculous cap to keep her hair curly.

...

She was happy to be home that morning. She loved her best friend to death, but exposure to her for long periods of time exhausted her. With the recipe card in hand, she set about attempting to make the pizza. The guys would absolutely love it. Realizing she was in way over her head, she called the best cook she knew other than Mrs. Johanson: Rachel Rose.

Rachel fortunately arrived quickly.

"Hey!" She squealed in her soprano voice. "How did your sleep over with Ellie go? I would have came, but I was working on a speech for this charity event that I'm going to tonight. If all goes well, we should get about five thousand in donations to the pet recuse center. "

She smiled, Rachel would ninety-nine times out of one hundred would go and work on her writing and try to help animals than go to some social event.

"I need your help. I'm trying to make Mrs. Johanson's new recipe for pizza to make for a party I'm having with a few guy friends, and I'm way in over my head. "

"You can count on me. By the way, how do you like my costume for Halloween?" She asked, twirling. Rachel was wearing a soft, cashmere sweater dress with cream and light grey vertical stripes. On her hands were soft white gloves, and she had fuzzy white grey boots. On her head was a headband with fuzzy cat ears and tacked onto her dress was a cat tail.

"I'm going as a kitten!" She giggled.

"Very impressive." She complimented. Finally, they set to work. With Rachel's help, she managed to struggle through making about six pizzas; one for each of the boys, one for Master Splinter, and one for her, plus extras for the boys.

While they weren't nearly as good as Mrs. Johanson's, they were decent. After she grabbed the karaoke machine, and changed back into her outfit from the girl's night, she headed for the lair with for the party with the pizzas.

**Done! I feel really bad, because it took forever. Anyways, anyone who can spot the reference to my story Donnie's Musical Moments gets a shout out. Be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my fantastic readers! I have neglected this story for far too. I have a whole list of excuses for why this took so long, but I'm sure you guys don't really care to read the entire three-pages worth of excuses. Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

She really wished that she had thought of grabbing a different outfit before she left. Ellie had ensured that she was wearing purple, stiletto heels with her purple dress, and touched up her hair and make up before she left. This was going to feel so awkward, especially with what she assumed Donnie heard. Sometimes, she wished she could just duct tape Ellie's mouth shut.

She finally managed to totter down to the guys' lair, with her stack of pizzas and the karaoke machine. Her feet were killing her. The only thing that kept her from abandoning the whole thing was Ellie's threat to publish a letter to her own personal stalker in the newspaper.

It wasn't long before she was mobbed by the four turtles, who obviously smelled the pizza she had brought. "Ah!" She chastised. "You have to wait until the party actually starts.

A collective groan passed through them before Mikey pointed to the karaoke machine at her side. "What's that?"

Just as she opened her mouth to reply, Donnie beat her to it. " It's called a karaoke machine. It's popular at human parties, and it usually displays lyrics and a video on a screen, for the singer to sing along to, and plays the instrumentals to a song. It was invented in-"

Raph clapped his hand over Donnie's mouth. "Yes, we get it, Brainiac."

"Why'd you bring it?" Leo inquired.

"Because" She drawled. "Ellie dared me to sing two songs and make sure a person of her choice saw them. Plus, she wants it videoed and sent to her she knows I actually did it."

"Why don't you just not do it?" Raph wondered.

"The cost of forfeiting is that she gets to publish whatever she wants about me in the school paper, since our friend Rachel is the editor, and she wants to publish a letter 'from me' to my very own personal stalker about how I want to marry him and have his children."

Mikey, Leo, and Raph all looked very pointedly at Donnie, although she wasn't quiet sure why.

"And anyways, since I didn't want to suffer alone, I'm going to make it a party activity."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Mikey shrugged. "I just wanna know what's on those pizzas!"

With a heave, she set the all of the pizza boxes on top of a make-shift counter. "Mozzarella cheese, teriyaki chicken, green peppers, and peperoni." She answered.

"Ohh!" She could practically hear them drooling. "There's one for each of us, including Master Splinter, and because I guarantee that I won't finish mine, so there'll be extras."

"Let's get started!" Leo grinned.

"Sure, let's just get everything set up." She responded. "Then we can get to the pizza."

The boys didn't need any more encouragement than that. In about fifteen minutes, an mini dance floor was set up, streamers were hanging from the ceiling, music was playing, and the karaoke machine was set up for later. She had even managed to get the snack bar ready. All of the pizzas were open on the table, with a glass bowl filled with chips, and another with a kool-aide punch.

Everyone rushed over, eager to try the pizza. They were not disappointed.

"Mhmm, who's recipe is this?" Donnie wondered.

"I don't know, but it's good." Raph agreed.

"Om nom nom." Mikey's rather loud chewing was a response in itself.

"This is amazing. Did you make this?" Leo asked.

"The recipe is Ellie's mom's, she owns her own restaurant, and while technically, yes, I did make it; but it wouldn't have turned out nearly this good without the help of my friend, Rachel. She's the editor I mentioned."

"Be sure to tell her thanks from us." Leo replied. "Hey, Master Splinter! April brought pizza, if you want any." He called, but was met with silence. "He's probably just meditating. He'll come and get some once he's done." Leo shrugged.

In a matter of no time, everyone was swaying along to the music. Even Splinter had emerged to enjoy the party. _Give Me Everything_ was currently playing, and she was finding it beyond difficult to attempt to dance. Inevitably, she tripped, and Donnie caught her, and sung her reflexively into a dip, right as the line _"Grab somebody sexy, tell 'em hey!"_ played.

It felt like her face was on fire. It took Donnie a few moments to realize what had just happened. As soon as the shock wore off, he blushed as well, and set her on her feet.

"I-I-I guess I be-be-better take off-f-f these h-heel then." She stammered embarrassedly. There was going to be blood to pay from her best friend for making her go through this torture. If it had been up to her, she would have been wearing her fuzzy boots, leggings, jean shorts, and a tee shirt.

"Maybe that a good idea." Donnie muttered shyly. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt, would we?"

Donnie shuffled off, and she promptly took off her heels. That had been a close call.

**I know it's super short, but I'm hoping to make the next chapter plenty long. Who's all seen the new episode that kicked off season two? If you haven't yet *Spoiler alert*. All I have to say it: Nickelodeon, you had ONE job. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING ON APRITELLO! If you are as frustrated as me, or you just want to say how you felt about this chapter, be sure to let me know in the reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello beautiful readers! I would have updated sooner, but I've been studying for my Parliamentary Procedure test. Normally, I wouldn't have worried, but my teacher told me that he was going to find a way to fail me, and guess what I did. I got a 97 on that stupid test of his. Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

Things were going wonderfully, until she checked the time. It was almost ten o'clock, and she was sure that almost everyone would be about ready to sleep by the time midnight rolled around.

"Hey guys! Ready for karaoke?" She yelled over the music. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. This was going to be beyond embarrassing.

"Sure!" They all yelled back. In a matter of moments. The music had been turned down, and the four turtles and Splinter had gathered, awaiting her instruction.

"Alright." She gulped. "I'll go first, to demonstrate, and to get my dare out of the way. Donnie, did you get the machine hooked up when we got everything ready in the beginning?"

"Yes I did." He piped up helpfully. "Do you need me to set up a camera, since you said your friend and a person of her choosing needs to see it?" Was she just imagining things, or did his voice sadden a little at the end?

"Yeah," She shrugged it off. "And it's going to be embarrassing, but it's better than Josh Robinson stalking me even more than he already does."

"Who's this 'Josh Robinson'? Do I need to 'teach him a lesson'?" Donnie growled, and it appeared to her that he was trying his best to sound 'tough'.

"No, it's fine." She sighed. "I just want to get this over with."

"Well then, go on up there. We won't laugh; I promise." Donnie glared at the others for effect, who looked positively 'innocent'.

Hesitantly, she stepped up onto the makeshift wooden platform where the machine was set up. With shaky hands, she grabbed the microphone and entered the first song: _Touch my Body._ She could have opted to do _We belong together_ , but she figured that she might as well get the most embarrassing one out of the way first.

Just like she had been instructed, she set it to the 'music video with subtitles' setting. At this point, she was debating whether or not the letter would be that bad.

Every single one of their jaws' dropped when the prologue to the music video began to play. She didn't even have to turn around to know what had surprised them. The music video and words were on the screen of the karaoke machine, but it was attached to a TV, so everyone else could see. Despite it's availability, she didn't even look at the screen; she simple knew what they were seeing.

So far, they had just seen a dorky, Volkswagen Beetle, pull up to a mansion. A 'nerd' stepped out of the car, and the name 'Compu Nerd' was now visible on the car's side, as well as on the guy's shirt. The guy knocks on the mansion door, and a gorgeous girl, a million, trillion miles out of the poor nerd's league, answers the door. She wore nothing but a silk robe and lingerie, inviting the nerd in. She escorts him to a room with a computer and instructs him to being the system up to date, before heading to her bathroom, where she promptly discards her robe. After that, it cut directly to the nerds 'fantasy', and it was her cue to begin singing."

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. Boy I know you've been waitin' for this, I've been waiting too. In my imagination, I'd be all up on you. I know you got this fever for me, one hundred and two. Boy I know, I feel the same way, my temperature's through the roof." She wasn't a half bad singer, but when her hands quaked from nerves, there was definitely room for improvement.

It wouldn't had been so awkward if she hadn't caught site of Donnie staring up at her. Unlike the others, who were staring at the music video in disbelief, he was actually staring _at her,_ with glazed eyes and a half-open mouth.

Brushing it off, she continued to sing the next verse. "Boy, you can put me on you like a brand new white tee. I'll hug your body tighter than my favorite jeans. I want you to caress me like a tropical breeze, and float away with you in the Caribbean sea. "

Another super awkward part of singing this song: the chorus. It wouldn't be that horrible with just the verses, but 'Put me on the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more', 'Throw me on the bed, I just want to make you feel like you never did, ' 'Let me wrap my thighs, all around your waist,' And "Know you love my curves, come on and give me what I deserve,' are not exactly things you sing in front of your guy friends. It is beyond weird. The worst was when she sang the chorus to the song for the second time, and she accidentally made eye contact with Donnie. Once it was started, she found herself unable to look away.

She finally broke eye contact when she started to sing the third and final verse. "I'm gonna treat you like a teddy bear, you won't wanna go nowhere. In the lap of luxury, layin' intertwined with me, you won't want for nothin' boy, I will give you plenty." After that, there was just one more chorus to go.

One traumatizing experience had ended, and now another was going to begin. She quickly changed the song to _We belong together._

There wasn't much of a prologue to this video, it pretty much cut straight to the singing. "I didn't mean it when I said I didn't love you so, I should've held on tight, I never should've let you go. I didn't know nothing, I was stupid, I was foolish, I was lying to myself. I could not fathom that I would ever be without your love. Never imagined I'd be here sitting beside myself, 'cause I didn't know you, and I didn't know me, but I though I knew everything, I never felt." It was a dramatic change from the goofy, upbeat song before.

She noticed Donnie was still staring at her. His eyes weren't glazed over, though. They held a sad, knowing look. It made her wonder just what had happened to put that look there.

By now, she was already starting the next verse. "I can't sleep at night, when you are on my mind. Bobby Wommack's on the radio, singing to me 'If you thing you're lonely now,' Wait a minute, this is too deep. I gotta change the station, so I turn the dial, tryin' to catch a break, but then I hear Babyface 'I only think of you' and I'm tryin' to keep it together, but I'm fallin' apart."

She was thanking her lucky stars that the song was almost over. Whenever she saw Ellie again, she was going to be dead meat. She'd get revenge somehow.

"Who else am I gonna lean on when times get rough? Who else is gonna talk to me 'til the sun comes up? Who's gonna take your place, baby there ain't nobody better. Come back baby, 'cause we belong together!"

Oh thank god that was over. She exited the makeshift stage after Donnie gave her the clear that the filming was done, least she have to do that all over again.

"Sooo, who'd like to go next?" She asked a little awkwardly.

"I'll go." Donnie volunteered, for which she was eternally grateful.

He fumbled at the controls for a second, before singing _'White & Nerdy' _ by Weird Al. It was absolutely hilarious. She could tell he was making fun of himself, most likely to make her feel better. How sweet. He even managed the rap part, which she had absolutely no idea how he did.

After his breaking the ice, the rest of the crew followed suit. Leo sang _'Radioactive'_ by Imagine Dragons. Raph sang _'Everybody loves me'_ by One Republic, and Mikey sang _'The Lazy Song'_ by Bruno Mars, which surprised her, although she noticed he sang a more censored version of the song than the original. Last, but not least, even Splinter got up and sand _'Kung fu fighting'_ by Carl Douglass.

By the time everyone had gone through, the room was a laughing mess. As Raph was going up for his second turn, this time to sing _'I'm sexy and I know it'_ by LMFAO, Donnie pulled her aside.

"Do you want me to help you get it sent?" He inquired.

A blush burned in her cheeks at the mention of her dare, but she nodded anyways.

"Alright." He muttered, seemingly to himself. "So I'll just send the video to your phone, and, who's this going to again?"

She figured that was Donnie's way of subtlety figuring out what guy it was for, but she just replied "Just send it to 'Ellie J'. "

"But that's only one person." He protested. "Didn't you say it had to be sent to a guy of her choice?"

"Yes." She responded vaguely.

"Then why don't y-"

"Just trust me, okay Donnie?"

"Fine." He grumbled a bit, but lightened up almost immediately. "Done." He handed her back her phone.

'Thank you." She smiled.

As soon as Donnie left, she put her face between her hands and muttered. "He's already seen it, Donnie. You saw it, didn't you? She only said see, not send."

...

The party was finally over at about one in the morning. Everyone had enjoyed karaoke more than she had expected, and no one was willing to stop until their voices were hoarse and they were out of pizza. The lair was a mess, but that was something they'd have to deal with in the morning, because she was way too tired to clean.

She found her way to the guest bedroom she called hers when she wasn't at her aunt's, and flopped down on the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow, with her dress and heels still on, since she had put them back on for the karaoke.

**IT"S FINALLY DONE! This one's a whole three and a half pages, not double spaced on word, a whole page-page and a half longer than the past few chapters. What'd you guys think? Be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews, since I just love reviews, (and they secretly boost my self esteem.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, wonderful readers, this story has 3-5 chapters left before it's done. PS: this chapter will also be posted under my Donnie's musical moments story, since this chapter is for the requested use of Taylor Swift's 'Safe and Sound.' Anyways, enjoy!**

She couldn't see, blinded by a fold of cloth hastily tied to cover her eyes. The cold, unyielding hands of a Kraang robot steered her up several flights of stairs, and finally, towards a what sounded like a helicopter.

It was only a guess, though. Who knew what strange machines these alien creatures had designed? The steady beat of blades whipped up a wind. Angling her face, the wind snatched her blindfold, and carried it away.

She shifted her eyes to the weathered concrete helicopter pad, careful not to let any of the aliens see that see had regained her sighted.

Sparing half a second, see glanced up. The aircraft was indeed a helicopter. The matte black body was nondescript, and certainly wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicions. Even if it was sighted, helicopters were often seen flying above New York For various reasons.

As the Kraang shoved her roughly into the small compartment, she couldn't restrain a cry for help from ripping its way out of her throat. No one answered her call. An odd sense of Deja vu settle in, although it was outweighed by dread.

The craft almost immediately hit a patch of turbulence, and she tumbled through the still-open doors, into nothing.

She scrunched her eyes shut in hear, and a wordless shriek echoed in the night air. That moment seemed to stretch on forever, but still didn't last long enough. She could sense she was about ready to crash land. Her body didn't stand a chance against the concrete and the impact would almost certainly shatter every-

That's about when she woke up screaming. She frantically scrabbled out of bed, and wondered into the main room, hoping to calm herself before she attempted sleep again.

"April? April!" A familiar turtle's voice searched in anxiety. Moments later, Donnie stumbled out of his lab, goggles still on his head. His chestnut colored eyes were wide with fear and his usual gap-toothed smile was turned upside down in a frown of concern.

"There you are!" He sighed in relief. "What happened?"

"I had a nightmare." She whispered, ashamed. It was one thing to disturb herself; it was a whole other to trouble the resident ninja turtles.

"What was it about?" He asked gently.

"What are you doing up this late?" She attempted to change the topic.

"I could ask you the same thing." Donnie chuckled. "But, if you must know, sudden inspiration for a new project came to me, and I'm a bit of an insomniac already, so.." He trailed of, and simply shrugged his shoulders. "But, you aren't going to distract me that easily; I'm not Mikey. What was that nightmare about?"

She avoided his concerned gaze and instead adverted her eye to a very interesting piece of ground. "It was about when my father was taken." She confessed quietly, all too aware of the lump on her throat and the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"We'll find him, April. I promise."

She shook her head. "Not like that. I was... Alone. And you guys weren't there." The lump in her throat was getting harder to talk past. "B-but, I still fell, and the was no one to-"

Donnie cut her off by awkwardly putting his arms around her and cradled her head in the crook of his shoulder. "I'll always be there to catch you, April. No matter what." He soothed reassuringly.

A few tears leaked out, and ran in watery trails down her cheeks, but the nervous break down she had been expecting seemed to be put to rest.

They stood like that for a few moments longer, before Donnie broke the silence. "You should probably get to bed." He murmured.

A half smile tugged at her lips. "I could say the same."

"I'm serious. Off to bed you go, missy." She could hear the teasing note in his voice, despite having claimed to be serious. "If you don't want to go back to your room, I can make up a bed on the couch."

"That sounds nice." She yawned, much to her displeasure. She wasn't supposed to be tired.

A small, smug grin wormed its way onto Donnie's face. He obviously though he had won this battle of wills. He probably had, but that didn't mean she had to accept it. "I'll be in the lab if you need me." Donnie said, after settling her in on the couch.

"Wait!" A sudden, irrational fear gripped her. What if the nightmares came back? "Stay with me."

A few wrinkles appeared on the tech genius's face as he contemplated the question he was obviously too smart to pose verbally. _Why?_

"Please Donnie? Just until I fall asleep." She could practically see his will crumbling in his eyes. She noticed he never really could deny her.

"Oh, alright." He inevitably gave in. Somewhat reluctantly and shyly, he perched on the edge of couch.

She bit back a grumble. She wanted _comfort._ It wasn't very comforting to have him just on the edge of the couch. So, she took matters into her own hands. She scooted over until she was roughly sitting in his lap, and nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder, making a pillow out of his chest. She could feel him stiffen, but she ignored it.

After many minutes, she finally requested in a small voice, " Donnie, would you sing for me?"

"What?" His voice was was thick with surprise in his drowsy state.

"Sing, like a lullaby. My mom used to sing to me whenever I had nightmares; it always made me feel better. " She explained, embarrassed.

She took a chance and glanced at Donnie's face. Instead of looking confused or slightly creeped out, he simply looked thoughtful.

She could feel a gentle rumble in his chest as he hummed for a moment before singing softly, "I remember tears running down your face when I said I'd never let you go, when all those shadows almost killed your light. I remember you said, 'Don't leave me here alone.', but all that's dead and gone and passed, tonight. Just close your eyes; the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe, and sound. Don't you dare look out your window, darling; everything's on fire. The war outside our door keeps raging on. Hold on to this, lullaby; even when the music's gone." That was the last of what she heard before sinking into sleep.

She awoke very comfortable and warm. It took her a moment to realize she was still cuddled in Donnie's lap. A hint of a blush burned at her cheeks, but she managed to keep it in check.

The next thing she noticed was the weight on her head. Carefully looking up, she saw that Donnie had dosed of himself, and rested his head on top of hers.

_He must really care to have stayed all night holding me._ She thought sleepily.

The thought struck her again, this time, with much more clarity. _He must really care._

It it was then, on the boarder of full consciousness and dreamland, that a realization crashed over her like a tsunami wave. Donnie cared, cared a lot, but not strictly as a friend. Would Raph do this for her? No. Or Mikey? No. Or even Leo? No. She doubted even Ellie or Rachel would go to this trouble, not to say they weren't the best friends she could ask for, this was just a different type of comfort: like how a man comforts a woman.

The worst part was, if she squinted her eyes at her memories hard enough, she could see the same care in him as she did now. As much as it killed her to admit it; Ellie had been right. That dirty little psychic, She mentally pouted.

_What are you going to do about this newfound revelation?_ A sarcastic voice that she identified as her subconscious asked her mentally.

Although it was more than likely to be meant as rhetorical, she couldn't help but ponder the question. How did she feel about Donnie? He was definitely at least a very good friend. One who was trusted, enough so she felt completely comfortable to open up to him about anything. He was a dedicated friend, willing to bend over backwards to help her in any way. And finally, he was a friend, that once she had him, couldn't quiet imagine her life without him.

_Oh well,_ She thought. _I'll make a decision later; I don't want to wake Donnie by moving too much._ True to her thought, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep once more in his arms.

**Yay! Chapter done! It's still a little short, but I hope the fluffiness made up for it. I almost forgot, I don't own T Swift or TMNT (sadly) and don't forget to review! Reviews just make me get the warm, fuzzy, you-need-to-write-more feeling! The button is right down there; you know you want to ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello my wonderful readers, here's the next chapter!**

Donnie gently nudged her awake. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." He smiled down at her.

They carefully untangled themselves, so they were separate, but slightly leaning against the other.

"Thank you, Donatello." She said quietly.

"It's no big deal." He responded earnestly.

"Yes, it was, and thank you. It meant a lot."

"I'll always there for you." He promised. She couldn't help but stare at the gu-, no, man, at her side. It was hard to believe she had been so oblivious to his feelings. They were so open, so honest and exposed.

She was feeling bold, and since his cheek was far out of her reach, she placed a soft peck on his bicep and patted his shoulder as she stood up. " I probably should be going; I still need to figure out how to do the mask for my costume, and my friends want to leave at 6:00."

"Leave for what?" He inquired.

"Oh, I forgot. October 31st is a popular holiday, called Halloween. On Halloween, people, mainly kids, dress up in costumes, and go door to door, knock, and get candy. The nice thing about New York is that almost no one knows you age, so you can keep trick or treating when you're a teen." She explained. "I'm going as a ninja, and I've been trying to make the face mask, but it never turns out right. "

A grin lit up Donnie's face, and he hurried to his room. "I think I've got the perfect thing for you!" He called over his shoulder.

Several large crashes echoed in the lair, but before she could go and check to see if he was alright, Donnie emerged with his hands behind his back.

"Pick a hand." He grinned his usual gap toothed smile.

"Uhm, right!"

"Ok, close your eyes." she complied, still bewildered as to what he was doing. Then, his impossibly gentle hands lifted up her hair and tied something there.

"Okay... And open!"

It was as if nothing had changed, except there was the lightest of pressure on her face. She delicately felt her cheeks and temples, and discovered a soft, cotton-y cloth secured around her eyes.

"It's my old mask from when I was younger." He answered her unspoken question. "So you don't have to try and make one; they're a little tricky to get exactly right if you haven't been taught how."

A smile split her face. He was just so thoughtful. Would it really be so weird to be with him? "Thank you Donnie!" She pulled him into a bear hug. "You're a total life saver! I'll be sure to save some candy for you guys. We usually collect over thirty pounds each, since we hit up all of the major apartment buildings. I'll send you guys a text when we're just about done."

"Alrighty!" He squeezed her back after he recovered from shock, before they broke the hug.

"I'll see you guys later tonight. " She called over her shoulder as she tottered out of the lair, very unfortunately still in the outfit Ellie put her in.

She eagerly awaited her friends to arrive at her house. She had her entire ninja costume on, and although the rest of it was jet black, she proudly sported the faded purple mask.

She impatiently fiddled with the ties of the mask. There was no way she was going to be able look Ellie in the eye. She would pester her about whether or not she did anything with 'Donnie boy' and, she, being the horrible liar she was, wouldn't be able to stop herself from just spilling her guts, which would only lead to more harassment. Then, Rachel would get in on it, and she wouldn't stop until they were sure her and Donnie were a couple. It was times like this that made her wonder why she hadn't given up on friends.

Ellie's mom finally pulled up in her van, and she gathered up her bags before climbing in.

"Get in loser, we're going trick-or-treating." Ellie teased as she climbed in. "So, how'd ya know, go?" Ellie waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Fine." She replied tersely.

"Oh! I just remembered! Have you guys heard about the newest couple? It's pretty shocking, if you ask me." Rachel giggled.

"Who is it?" She asked, eager to turn the subject off of her.

" Phylisha White and Russell Edwards."

"You mean, Miss pretty-and-popular, part of the National Honors Society, is dating him?" She gasped.

"Miss Touch-my-little-sister-and-I'll-punch-your-lights-out got a boyfriend who wasn't perfectly respectable?"

Rachel nodded vigerously. "Yes! They got together at some anime/comic/video game convention. They both entered in a fan art completion, and he got first, she got second. They started talking when they went up to get their awards."

"But he's even more violent than she is!" Ellie exclaimed.

"And he's got tattoos and piercings!" She added.

"I know! Who would have thought the bad boy, star of the boxing team and the respectable, smart popular girl would have gotten together because of nerdiness and art?" Rachel squealed.

"The world's a strange place." Ellie muttered.

"We're at our first stop!" Ellie' mom announced.

Everyone clamored out, and darted into the apartment building. It was easy to rack up candy in New York. If you really wanted to, you go to the same place several times, as long as there was a hour between visits, because by then, you've been forgotten. It was perfect. As soon as they filled their buckets, they ran back to the car to empty them out into giant garbage sacks. By the end of the night, they had each filled up two Hefty bags.

"Hey April, why is your mask purple instead of black?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, why is it purple? And I thought you couldn't get the mask to look right. It looks pretty good to me." Ellie commented, obviously suspicious.

"Uhh, a friend helped me with it." She said quickly.

"Who was this 'friend' that you speak of? And why did they make it purple, if your costume's black?" Ellie pressed.

"It was made long before I had my costume idea." She mumbled.

"So you borrowed it? Who in the world would just have a purple ninja mask sitting around? Wait! didn't you say Donnnie's dad was a martial arts trainer?"

"Yes." She muttered.

"Was it by any chance, Donnie's mask?" Ellie goaded.

"Maybe." She whispered.

"Oh. M. G! I knew it! Do you realize that he loves you now? And that you love him? WHEN'S THE WEDDING!" Ellie was practically fangirling.

"Who's Donnie?" Rachel gushed.

"He is her soul mate." Ellie answered.

"Guys!" She buried her face in her hands. "You're making a mountain out of a molehill."

"But do you realize he likes you?" Ellie prodded. "Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?"

"Stop! That is beyond annoying." She complained, then said in a small whisper, "But yes, I see he might harbor some... affections for me."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Rachel asked.

"I'm confused, on one hand, it's it would be nice and cute, but on the other hand, I have no clue how I feel for him, and I don't want to hurt him."

"Do you realize-" Ellie started.

"-It is now our sworn duty as best friends-" Rachel continued.

"-To get you two together?" They finished.

"I never should have said anything." She sighed.

"Too late!" Ellie grinned in a sing-song voice.

As subtly as she could, she attempted to text Donnie, to tell him they could come and get the candy whenever, but shortly after it was sent, Ellie stole her phone.

"Texting Doooooniiie?" She drawled.

"Ohh! What'd she say?" Rachel giggled.

"She told him if he came by, she'd split her candy with him and his brothers! Ohh April, you've got it bad!"

"Gimme that!" She snatched her phone back. Moments after the device was in her hands, the screen went black, and died.

"Can we go meet them?" Rachel begged. "Please!"

"Rachel! You don't know anything about them, and you want to meet them?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

"I guess. But they're really shy about new people." She warned. She was deep in trouble. There was no way of getting out of bringing her friends, and she had no way to contact the boys to tell them to not come. Her only hope was they were busy and didn't show up until Rachel and Ellie left.

Of course, she had no such luck. As soon as they entered her room to wait, a red-masked, green eyed, hot-headed and impatient turtle swung in through her window.

"Good, you're here-" His voice faded as he stared at her friends in shock. All she could do was look back shamefully, and silently plead for forgiveness. Maybe they could convince her friends it was a really good costume.

Before anyone could say anything, Rachel squealed, ran up, and threw her arms around Raph's neck. Then, Raph must have been in more shock than she originally thought, because Rachel was able to pull him more-so to her level and drug him forward.

"This is the most amazing costume ever!" She gushed. "He looks like some kind of turtle ninja! He's even got _ninja forks!_ What are they called again? Oh yeah, _sais!"_

She almost laughed out loud at Raph's bewildered expression. This might actually work out okay.

Suddenly, Rachel's eyes widened and she rested her head on Raph's chest. Then, she said softly, "Is this really a costume? It feels so life-like."

**Yay! Chapter is done! How'd you all like it? Be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! I'm back (again!) there are one-two more chapters left after this one, although I do plan on doing a sequel eventually. Enjoy!**

"Don't be stupid, Rachel. You're smarter than that. _Of course_ it's a costume. There aren't just giant humanoid-turtles running around New York." Ellie scoffed.

"Oh... I guess you're right, but it just feels so _real!"_

Ellie rolled her eyes before inspecting Raph. "Why is your mask red, if the one you gave April is purple?" She asked, sounding suspicious.

She quickly stepped between Ellie and Raph and Rachel, who was still hugging Raph for some unfathomable reason. "This isn't Donnie." She saved Raph from a load of embarrassment, as well as quiet a few of tough questions. "This is Raphael, or Raph for short."

"Where's Donnie boy, then?" Ellie demanded. "I want to see my best friend's boyfriend"

Even in his shocked state, Raph managed to crack a smirk. She watched in shock as he gently pulled Rachel's arms off of his neck, and only twitched slightly in irritation when Rachel latched onto his arm instead.

"Donnie's stayed at home." Raph muttered.

"Well, why don't we go and see him then. I want to embarrasses Apritello in person." Ellie cackled.

"Apritello?" She shot her best friend and inquisitive glance.

"Apritello." Ellie confirmed. "That's you're couple's name! You put the Apri- from April, and the -tello from Donatello."

She glared at Ellie before Rachel looked up at Raph with the 'sad eyes' she uses to get her way with anyone who didn't know better. "I want to met your brothers. Please?"

They took their devastating toll on Raph's judement. "Ok." He responded numbly.

"You can't!" She blurted before Rachel turned the eyes on her.

"Why not?"

"Because... Raph's house is really far from here, and I'm assuming he decided to walk." She glared at Raph for giving in.

"Come on April. We're big kids here, we can handle a little bit of walking. Our feet won't fall off." Ellie griped. She then took a step towards Raph and poked him hard in the chest."Wow, this _is_ really realistic. Where'd you get it?"

A small, strangled growl escaped Raph's throat, and she couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "But it's really far, isn't it Raph?" She was looking for _some_ help from the red-masked mutant, before this snowballed into the worst-case scenario possible. It was a miracle that they thought it was only costumes.

"It's not a costume." Raph grumbled in a low, menacing voice.

"Oh ha ha, very funny, wise-guy. Of course it's a costume. " Ellie barked. Then, she very stupidly poked Raph's chest again. "See? A costume. No matter how real it looks and feels, animals in the world that I know don't talk."

"Well, this turtle does!" Raph was obviously very flustered and angry, although Rachel didn't seem to notice; she was too busy examining the details on the arm of his 'costume'.

She then decided to throw in the towel. There was no escaping it now, although Leo would kill her. Donnie might be slightly angry, but she could hopefully count on his support, and Mikey wouldn't care.

"Uhhm, guys." She choked out. "He's not lying."

"Very funny April, you're in on the joke now too?" Ellie snapped.

"I'm serious!" She snapped back. "I'll prove it, too."

She stomped over to their bathroom to gather materials. Rachel must have recovered from her astonishment, because she could hear her firing of questions.

"So this _isn't_ a costume? You poor thing! Are you a turtle that was experimented on a lab when you a baby? Or are you a _human_ who was changed by radioactive chemicals? Or where you a human experimented on by scientists? I've read a book called 'Maximum Ride' where something like that happens. No, no, it couldn't be any kind of experimentation; the government would never allow that, and if they did, I'd have a fit! Any kind of dangerous experimentation on animals or people is cruel and wrong. Hmm, maybe you were a _turtle_ changed by radioactive chemicals!"

Poor Raph couldn't get a word in edgewise, although he managed to interrupt her before she could go off into a rant on the dangers of radioactive waste. "You could say that."

_"Rachel!_ Don't tell me you actually _believe_ any of this. It's just joke April's playing on us, so she doesn't have to get embarrassed in front of her one true love."

"But I can feel his heart beat!" Ellie whined.

"Every living human on this earth has a heart beat! The extensive makeup and costume he's wearing wouldn't make his heart stop beating." Ellie protested.

"No! Not like a human heart beat, it's different. It feels slower, and heavier, and deeper inside his chest."

"You're being ridiculous." Ellie huffed.

She finally returned to break up the argument with her evidence. "Raph, hold out your arm." She said firmly.

With a hint of a snarl, Raph thrust his free arm towards her, and closed his eyes.

Hesitantly, she pinched the loose skin at his elbow. "First off, this is his actual skin. If was a costume, it wouldn't move like this, and-" she tugged sharply at the skin. Raph, in response, cracked open an eye and glared. "-and it wouldn't hurt. Now, if you are going by the logic that he's wearing a costume, he must have on extensive make up. So, this one had been soaked in soap and water." She held up a sopping wet, white wash cloth, and scrubbed at his arm, then laided it down, with no green stains.

"If it can't be removed by soap and water, if must either be removed by an alcohol or oil-based cleanser." She continued, this time dipping a cotton ball into a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and scrubbing the same spot, before she discarded that as well. It was without a green stain as well.

She took the final white washcloth and doused it in a liberal amount of turpentine, before scrubbing his arm again, and showing the still white cloth. "You know even more than I do, that make up has to be able to be removed with one of those three things, and that green would have left a giant spot on those white surfaces. As much as it metaphorically kills me to tell you guys this secret, I am. Rachel guessed it, when they were little, they got into an... accident with some chemicals, and it did this." She finished, hoping Ellie finally believed her, because if she didn't, there was no way that she could go into the sewer, and she wouldn't stop pestering her until she got to meet the rest of them.

Ellie's normally warm, lively complexion paled to something akin to chalk. "I've lost my mind." She whispered. "You can see it too, so we've all freaking lost our minds! Please tell me this is a dream. Please?" She frantically glanced about.

"I am one hundred percent sure that this is reality." She said firmly.

"I don't know how it's possible, but I believe you." Ellie said quietly. "Wait a second! If Raph's a turtle, then are the rest of them turtles too?"

"Well, their dad is a rat- long story." She answered quickly.

Ellie seemed to ignore that last part, and continued with a shocked expression. "Then if Donnie's a turtle, and he likes you, and you said you kind-of like him, wouldn't that be like zoophilia or bestiality? " She finished in horror.

"Actually, since they are sentient and intelligent, it isn't." Rachel piped up. "I think it's sort of like if there were intelligent aliens that we came into contact with; they aren't animals. Oh my! Ellie, I just thought of something. April and Donnie would be like the beauty and the beast! That's so romantic!" She squeezed Raph's arm tighter, and Raph simply stared, obviously stunned at her indifference to his status.

Ellie's eyes widened like she had an epiphany. "Oh, m, g, Rachel, you're right. _That is so romantic!"_

She couldn't help but glare at the trio. "Raph, I need to borrow your phone; mine died right after I texted Donnie. I think we should tell them what's just happened." She sighed. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

Raph nodded tersely and handed over his phone, while Rachel was chattering to him.

Hesitantly, she entered Donnie's number and waited the eternity through the rings. It never took Donnie this long to answer calls from her number.

When the he finally picked up, she said in her sweetest, girliest voice possible, "Donnie? I have something to tell you. Make sure Leo's with you, and put me on speaker, please."

"On it!"

With a deep sigh, she started to explain. "Well, my friends saw my text to you, and insisted they come over. Then my phone died, so I couldn't contact any of you, and Raph swung in through the window, and they saw him, and one of them thought he was wearing a costume, but realized it wasn't. Then the other friend told my friend who figured out it wasn't a costume that she was being stupid, and that made Raph mad, and he let it slip that it wasn't a costume, and the friend who thought it was a costume thought he was lying, and she wanted to come and see the rest of you, otherwise I would have let her think it was a costume, and being called a liar made Raph even angrier, but after to talking, she believes me, and they both want to come and meet the rest of you." She knew she spoke in a breathy, hurried tone, but her nerves were getting the better of her.

The first response she got was from Donnie, "They know what we are, and they still want to come and meet us?"

"Yes." She answered uneasily.

Leo finally spoke in a tensed, frustrated tone. "By all means, let them come over. There's no point in hiding anything now. "

"Thank you!" She breathed a sigh of relief. She had been expecting a lot worse.

"Ok, I called and explained, so they know we're coming, but Ellie and Rachel, I want you to keep an open mind as to where they live."

"What, do they live in the sewer or something?" Ellie scoffed.

"Yes."

"You're not joking, are you?" Ellie shook her head.

**Chapter done! I really liked this one, so pretty please let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, my lovely readers! This is the second to last chapter, but I promise that there will eventually be a sequel, and I will post the first chapter here as an epilogue. Anyways, here's the chapter.**

"In the _sewers?"_ Rachel gasped. "You poor things!

"It realty isn't that bad." She assured her friend. "They keep their lair surprisingly clean."

"A lair? It sounds like one of those really corny comic books that the nerds at our school read." Ellie rolled her eyes.

"You guys are the ones that wanted to see it!" She threw her hands up in disbelief. Only her friends would discover the existence of mutant turtles and worry about what their living quarters looked like.

Raph then seemed to snap back to his senses, because with a harsh edge to his voice, he growled in a low tone, "I'm heading back."

"But, you're taking us with you, right?" Rachel asked with big blue, pleading eyes.

He pried her from his arm uncharacteristically gently from his arm, but still harsher than what Rachel was used to. "No. April knows the way."

Almost immediately, Rachel looked rather crestfallen. She'd have to chew Raph out later for upsetting her child-like best friend. Then, in an even lower voice, he muttered, "I'll go deal with Leo; he's mainly angry at me, and I'm gonna take responsibility for this disaster."

"Good luck." She whispered back. Maybe she wouldn't have to yell at him in the name of her friend's feelings. Rachel was oddly attached to Raph, despite the given circumstances. She figured it must be the shock.

Rachel hesitantly reached a hand out for him as vaulted once more through the open window, the hard lines of his muscles tense with the stress and anticipation of the impending fight, and her fingers barely skimmed the edge of his shell as he disappeared into the night.

"Why's he so high and mighty?" Ellie grumbled. "Would it have killed him to walk with us?"

"Well, he generally travels by jumping from roof to roof, since a humanoid turtle just can't casually stroll down the street, so it might not kill him, but it could very well hurt one of us." She defended.

...

The only thing that calmed his raged thoughts was the rhythmic thump of this footsteps on the rooftops and the steady inhale and exhale from the exertion of the maneuvers. He blew it. Blew it for himself, and his brothers too. Their entire, fragile world had been placed into the small, manicured hands of two teenaged girls. Leo was going to be beyond furious. This was going to mean hours and hours of extra training as punishment, and the cold shoulder for who knows how long.

He was so stupid. Why hadn't he just allowed them believe he was in a costume for some holiday? He didn't really know himself, but for some reason, it didn't feel right.

All too soon, he arrived at the appropriate manhole cover. He briefly considered racing across the buildings for a while longer, but quickly deemed it cowardly. He was a man, and he could deal with Leo.

Just like he had expected, Leo was waiting to pounce on the nearest victim. "What have you **done!"** His voice boomed from the other side of the lair.

"Well, excuse me for not knowing that her silly little friends were waiting with her!" He spat.

"What happened to being a ninja?!" Leo yelled. "If you were using an ounce of common sense, you would have double checked to make sure there was no one with her."

"And how was I supposed to do that, Mr. Space-Nerd? Was I supposed to see through the roof?" He sneered acidly.

"What about listening for other voices?" Leo shot back.

He felt a flush of embarrassment, but refused to show it, so he growled as menacingly as he could instead.

Leo must have sensed the beginning of a victory, so he continued on tauntingly. "And why did you blow your cover? They invented the perfect excuse for you, and you had to throw it down the drain!"

A small trickle of inspiration hit him, so he responded quietly, "And how was I supposed to explain everything else to them?"

"What do you mean, 'explain everything else to them.' ?"

"Why we were all wearing matching costumes? Why wouldn't we take the costumes off? WHY DO WE LIVE IN A SEWER?" He now shrieked, his voice having steadily grown in volume. "You can't exactly give answers to those questions without giving away what we are, Leo. And don't get started on the 'they-wouldn't-have-seen-the-rest-of-us' crap, because they were hell bound to meet the rest of us, even before they saw me! Apparently, they had been pestering April for a while now, trying to figure out who's suddenly been taking up all of her time! Even if we could have explained the 'costume thing', it isn't exactly normal to live in a sewer, and you know that as damn well as I do! We owe April better than that, than to let her lose her friends, or cause issues with them, because if they thought she had lied to them or didn't trust them enough, there would have been hell to pay. She's done so much for us Leo, and is a good friend of ours. She deserves better than for us to ruin her friendships. I'll take the blame, but it could have just as easily been one of you who went to get the candy and was caught." He glared at his leader venomously.

"Well, you should have called before you said anything." Leo huffed.

"Oh yes. That would have been COMPLETELY normal! It would have been like 'Hey Leo, a couple of April's friends have seen me, and although they think I'm in a costume, they want to meet the rest of us. What should I do?' They definitely would have known something was wrong if I did that!"

"What about April's friends?" Mikey asked as he exited the dojo, with Master Splinter following close behind.

"Yes, what about Ms. O'Neil's friends?" Splinter asked suspiciously with narrowed eyes.

"I screwed up, alright!" He growled.

"What happened?" Splinter inquired.

With a frustrated sigh, he tried to explain. "April had offered to split the candy she gathered for Halloween with us, and since everyone else was busy, I got forced into going to collect it. I made the mistake of assuming that she was alone, because her friends tagged along. They saw me, and although they first I was in a costume, one kind-of got an idea that it wasn't, which made her other friend belittle her. I errrr, lost my temper shortly afterwards, and let slip I wasn't a costume. The one friend didn't really believe me, and demanded to meet my brothers, and one thing led to another, and here we are. They'll be over in a bit." He finished, slightly ashamed. Confessing to his brother was one thing, but laying out his faults for his sensei was almost too much for his pride to handle.

"Sweet!" Mikey exclaimed. "Company! And that Ellie chick sounds pretty awesome from what April says about her."

"Well, don't just stand there. If we are to have new company, I want this place to be spotless. Understood?" Splinter barked.

"Yes sensei."

"We should probably hurry. They'll be here in like twenty minutes." He felt the need to point out. Mikey and Leo both glared. "Hey Donnie! Get out here and help clean, your girlfriend's coming over."

...

"Are we almost there yet?" Ellie whined.

"What happened to 'I'm a big girl and I can walk.' ?" She snapped.

"I didn't think it'd be _three miles_ from your apartment. Plus, I'm still wearing my heels."

"Oh cry me a river, but yes, we're almost there."

"How do we get in?" Rachel asked.

"Through the manhole cover." She replied absentmindedly.

"What!" Ellie exclaimed.

'Will we be able to lift it?" Rachel worried.

"I do it by myself all the time." She scoffed.

"So _that's_ how you survived the unexpected conditioning session in P.E. last week! You've been whipping yourself into shape to go and see these turtle boys." Ellie realized. "How many times do you go to see them a week?"

"Usually between seven to ten times."

"So to go there and back, you have to walk six miles, and lift a hundred and fifty pound metal disc twice? That's ridiculous."

"Once you get used to it, it's really not that hard." She defended. "I've been taking martial arts too, so I'm a bit more in shape than usual."

"You're crazy."

"We're here." She announced.

Ellie and Rachel stared at the cover as if the reality hadn't quiet sunken in yet.

"Come on." She prodded impatiently. Very carefully, she slipped her fingers under the edge of the disc and slid it at an angle to create a gap just large enough for her to squeeze through. Reluctantly, Ellie and Rachel followed suit. After they were all on the ladder leading down, she slid the cover back into place.

Finally, she took the initiative and descended series of rungs bolted into the concrete that made a make-shift ladder before dropping a few feet onto the slick cement with a soft _sploosh._ Rachel soon joined her, but Ellie hesitated.

"What's taking so long?" Rachel called.

"I'll break a heel!"

"You'll be fine." She soothed. "It's only like a two foot drop."

After a moment's pause, a plot and the echoes of an unsteady wobble signified that their third friend had joined them.

"This way." She pointed to the tunnel lit with sparse lamps along the walls.

They walked in silence for a moment before Rachel murmured, "It feels so lonely down here."

A quiet scuttle of footsteps alerted her friends to other presences. "Just about there." She encouraged.

They picked up the pace, and before long, they were at entrance.

"Raph!" Rachel cried, and stumbled forward and glomped the unsuspecting terrapin. It was going to be a long visit.

**Yay! Chapter is finally done! How are you guys feeling about the grand finale? I'm planning on making it like twice the length of a usual chapter. I love hearing what you guys think, so be sure to leave me a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is it! The last Chapter, it's been an amazing journey, and I love all of my dedicated readers. I want to thank all of you, with a particular thank you to one of my best friends, Dragonblooded, for always being there. I can't believe that I'm actually finishing a story for once. Anyways, I want to say that I WILL do a sequel, even if it takes a while. Once again, thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed, favorite, and read. You made this possible.**

"Have you made a new friend, Raphael?" Splinter asked with a chuckle. In response, the hot-headed turtle simple fumed silently.

"You're here!" Rachel smiled and squeezed tighter.

"Uh, well, I _do_ happen to live here." Raph responded with a touch of annoyance.

"No, I meant I'm not crazy! It all just feels to fanciful to be real. I was worried that we'd get here, and it would have all been some kind of daydream."

"I'm real." He told her. Then turning to the side, Raph barked. "Donnie, Mikey, Leo! Get in here!"

The other three brothers hurried in, and Ellie promptly began to circle them.

"Which one of you is Donnie?" She couldn't help but gulp. She would have thought that Ellie would have waited at least five minutes before beginning her plan to totally humiliate her. She was painfully wrong.

"Wait! don't tell me." Ellie scrutinized them for what felt like an hour. Nervously, she played with her bandana tails. After Rachel was done proving to herself that Raph was real, and not some figment of her imagination, she too studied the remaining turtle boys.

Finally, Ellie exclaimed, "You're Donnie!" She pointed to the real Donnie, and she couldn't help but be slightly impressed. "You match her description the best;chestnut eyes, lean and tall, concentrated look with a soft smile, and a gap between your teeth fits you to a T, although I'm a little disappointed you don't really wear glasses, or have wavy brown hair. Plus, you came out of what looks like some sort of lab and your bandana matches your soul-mate's. " Donnie flushed a delicate pink, then Ellie pointed her finger at the blue-masked leader. "You're Leo. The disapproving look on your face was a dead give away. And you, you're Mikey. You've got that adorable goofy smile, clear blue eyes, and look like you're ready to pull a prank anytime. Am I right?"

"Definitely!" Mikey ginned wickedly. "You're Ellie, right?"

"The one and only." Her best friend shot right back.

She took the initiative, and announced, "Why don't I formally introduce all of you. Ellie, you're right on who's who for the turtles. Boys, this is Ellie, and over there is Rachel, or better known as Kitten. Ellie and Rachel, this is Master Splinter, Donnie, Leo, Mikey, and Raph's dad."

Splinter bowed and help out a paw. "I am honored to make your acquaintance."

Hesitantly, Rachel and Ellie bowed as well, and shook his hand. "It is an honor for us as well." Rachel smiled.

"If it's not too rude to ask, how did this happen to you guys?" Ellie inquired.

"Ellie, that is a very long story, and I don't want to freak you guys out even more than I have. I'm surprised neither of you have fainted yet. Maybe later." She cautioned.

"I agree with April. You two must be finding it difficult to take in and adjust to all of this new information." Splinter sympathized.

"It's that weird, huh?"

"Could you expect any less?" Mikey replied cheekily.

"Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, why don't you show our new guest around? I'll be in my room finishing my meditation."

"Yes! Give us a tour, please?" Rachel tugged on Raph's arm.

"Definitely! I wanna know what April's future husband's house looks like!" Ellie smirked mischievously. She could feel her face burn a color to rival her hair, and as subtly as she could, she smacked Ellie's arm and hissed "Shut up."

"I'm just stating the truth."

"What truth?" Donnie asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." She stammered.

"Can you three give the tour?" Leo asked impatiently. "I've got to go do something."

"Would that someone happen to be Karai?" Mikey waggled is nonexistent eyebrows suggestively.

"Can you do it or not?" Leo ignored Mikey's harassment, surprisingly.

"Hmm, maybe we can make you a deal, brother dear. Why don't we have a little tournament and if you win, you can run along to go and see your little girlfriend, although I don't understand what you see in her; she's a total psycho." Raph bargained lazily.

"Fine." Leo growled through gritted teeth. "Prepare to lose."

"Bring it. You and me first, in the Dojo."

"Ohh! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Ellie chanted.

Rachel looked at Raph with weary eyes. "Be careful, alright?"

"I can could beat him in my sleep." He boasted.

With that last taunt, we followed the group into the dojo. "You girls sit over there." Leo said, pointing to a bench on a far wall. "Raph and I are going first, then Donnie and Mikey will go. If you are either pinned or on the ground for longer than fifteen seconds, you lose. Loser plays loser, winner plays winner. "

"Ohhh! This is gonna be good." Ellie gushed.

"Won't they hurt each other?" Rachel worried.

"Their weapons might be sharp, but they've been training their entire lives. They'll be fine." She scoffed

"If you're sure." Rachel still sounded skeptical.

"On the count of three. One, two, three!" Leo wasted no time in lunging forward, both katana drawn. Raph stood still until the last second before ducking around his brother and tripping him as he ran past. Leo sprawled forward, but wasted no time in springing back up, and swinging at his brother again. Raph parried the blow by catching the sword between the tongs of one of his sais. With a sharp twist, the katana was knocked out of Leo's grip, and clattered to the ground. He kicked the sword away, and rapped Leo on the shoulder with the butt of the handle on his sai.

Leo readjusted his grip on his remaining katana, and struck his brother's back with the flat of his blade. A resounding _twack_ echoed, and as she glanced over, she could see Rachel nervously biting her nails.

They swung at the same time, and their weapons glanced off of each other. Leo's sword slid downwards, and barely clipped Raph's shoulder, causing a thin line of blood to dribble from the cut.

While Rachel winced, the wound only seemed to irritate Raph further. He threw his elbow into the blue leader's chest, causing him to topple backwards.A solid kick sent Leo completely off balance, and he landed on the floor. Leo raised a katana to defend himself, but it too was knocked out of his grip. Setting a foot on his chest and pinning his brothers hands above his head, he growled with a predatory smirk. "I win."

Leo thrashed for a moment before conceding begrudgingly, "You win."

He released his brother, and pulled him to his feet. "Looks like your girlfriend is gonna have to wait for her favorite boy-toy. Donnie, Mikey, you're up next."

The brothers separated and Rachel took it upon herself to scold them both for not being careful, then found a damp washcloth to clean the blood off of Raph's cut. She smiled to herself; it was rather amusing to watch the two mutants get reprimanded by someone who wasn't even half their size.

"One, two, three!" Both brothers rushed forward. Mikey flipped, while Donnie summersaulted underneath of him. Turning on heel, Donnie unsheathed his Bo staff and struck Mikey's side. In retaliation, Mikey landed a quick series of blows with nun chucks on Donnie's shoulder. Mikey tried once again to vault over Donnie, but Donnie snatched one of his legs mid-jump, and Mikey came crashing to the floor. Donnie quickly pinned Mikey's arms while they were behind his head while he was still sprawled on the ground. Mikey flailed his legs, but couldn't break the grip.

"... eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. I win." Donnie got up and let his brother go. "Leo, you and Mikey are up next."

Leo took Donnie's spot, obviously annoyed from losing and being scolded. "One, two, three!"

Mikey made the first move by twirling his nun chucks, and lashing out. Leo used the tip of his sword to catch one of the links in the chain, and flung the nun chucks across the room. Leo then proceeded to chase Mikey while he attempted to recover his weapon. Unfortunately for him, he stumbled and fell backwards. Leo advanced slowly, while Mikey continued to scuttle backwards while on the ground. He bumped into the wall, and Leo loomed over him.

Mikey then darted between the gap in Leo's legs, but before he could get off the floor, Raph yelled. "That's been over fifteen seconds on the floor. Leo wins. Come on Donnie, it's you and me now. It's too bad that your girlfriend is here to see you get beaten." She could feel her face burn red. Everyone in that room knew Raph was talking about her.

"One, two, three!" Raph jabbed his sais at Donnie, who knocked them away with his staff, and retaliated by swinging the Bo back at his brother. Raph blocked Donnie's staff by crossing together his sais, and shoving upward. It carried on like that for awhile; swing, block, retaliate, block. It seemed that the two were evenly matched.

Donnie switched it up by cutting downward with his staff at his brother's shoulder, but Raph caught the end of the Bo between the prongs of his sai. The two struggled for a moment, each exerting as much force as they could, before Donnie twisted and used his staff as a lever to knock the sai out of Raph's hand. In the brief moment while Raph was in shock, Donnie used his height to his advantage and slipped his arms under Raph's arms and put him in a headlock.

The older turtle thrashed violently, but Donnie held on resiliently. "...thirteen, fourteen, fifteen." He let go, and Raph growled.

"Great job!" She smiled, and went to give him a high five, but instead, Donnie's arms easily encircled her, lifted her and spun her around. "I won!" He exclaimed.

After setting her down, his hands quickly moved to cup the sides of her face. He leaned down... "I'm so proud of you, Donn- Mhhph!" ... and kissed her.

It shocked her completely. His mouth against hers was a foreign sensation, one that couldn't be compared to anything else. His lips were soft and smooth, yet firm. instinctively, she grasped the tops of his shoulders.

Almost as soon as it began, it ended. Donnie released her as if he was being burned, and looked down with fear and an emotion she couldn't identify. He pushed past her, and fled to the lab.

Hesitantly, she brushed her lips with her finger tips as the sensation faded. With a jolt, she realized that was her very first kiss, and probably Donnie's too.

"Donnie! Come back!" She yelled, but was already too late.

"Wait, what just happened here?" Mikey glanced about, obviously confused.

"Yeah, did Don-dork just find the nerve to do what he's wanted to since he first saw April?" Raph asked.

"Oh, M, G!" Ellie and Rachel squealed at the same time.

"He kissed you!" Rachel gushed.

"You can't lie to yourself anymore, April! You know you liked it." Ellie said in a sing-song tone.

Her face was more than likely so red, tomatoes and apples were jealous.

"You're not denying it!" Ellie cried in triumph. "You liked it! You like it! What are you waiting for? You need to go and run after your lover boy and confess your feelings. "

"It's not that easy." She muttered.

"Oh sure it is! All you have to say is, 'Donnie boy, I really like you, so kiss me again.' See, problem solved."

"Hold up a second." Leo said.

"Do you mean she actually _like-likes_ our nerd of a brother?" Raph butt in on Leo's sentence.

"Duh!" Rachel giggled.

"You guys are so embarrassing." She sat down and put her head between her hands.

"There's no denying anything now, April, since everyone knows how you two are so in love!" Ellie teased. "All resistance is futile, so you might as well accept it and be happy."

"Wait a second. I think we're forgetting something here. Raph, did you say Donnie's wanted to kiss April since he's first saw her?" Rachel grinned.

"That's right!" Mikey cut in. "We were going above ground for the first time, and were on top of a building when he saw her. She came around the corner with her dad, and he pretty much fell in love right there. You could practically see the hearts in his eyes, and he started spouting off how she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. We told him she must be, because she was the _only_ girl he'd ever seen, but he stubbornly said, 'My point still stands.' He was just about tickled pink when he got to go and save her, although he beat himself up for weeks that he didn't save Mr. O'Neil as well."

"Why'd he have to go and save her?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Because her and her father were kidnapped by a group we call the Kraang. We'll explain more about them when we tell you what happened to us. They had April and her father in a helicopter, when some turbulence knocked April out of the still-open door, and Donnie caught her, but by doing so, the helicopter that still had Mr. O'Neil got away.

"Aww! That's soooo _romantic!"_ Ellie gushed. "Why didn't you snatch him up sooner?" She asked, smacking her arm.

"Because, I wasn't _aware_ he had feelings for me!" She ranted.

"How could you _not?"_ Raph snorted. "That fool was like a little lovesick puppy. He even made a giant flow-chart as to how to get you to hang out with him, with more scenarios than you'd personally care to know."

"Yeah! and did you completely ignore the 'Did you hear that guys? MY SWEET PRINCESS IS ALIVE!' or the whole metal head thing where he forgot that he wasn't on mute." Leo raised an eye ridge questioningly. 

"Well, maybe!" She huffed. "I wasn't even aware that _I_ had feelings for him until this morning. It's amazing what you can write of as being nice and concerned if you're determined enough." 

"You can say that again." Ellie muttered. "Now stop wasting time! Go and get your dream man!" She shoved her in the general direction of the lab. 

Hesitantly, she found the lab door and knocked softly. 'Donnie?" She got no response. 

She knocked louder and raised her voice slightly. "Donnie? Are you in there?" Still no answer. 

"Donnie? Dooooonnnniiee?" She called, hoping for a response. She was starting to get slightly irritated now. 

"Donnie! Come and open this door! I need to talk to you!" He continued to ignore her, which only served to irritate her further. 

"DONNIE!" She pounded on the door. "DA-ON-KNEE!" She yelled, dragging his name out and pronouncing each syllable separately. 

"Forget it." She muttered. She fished in her pocket, and pulled out a key ring. After going through a dozen different keys, she found the one that unlocked the lab. 

...

"Ow! Don't shove." Ellie complained. 

"Come on, this way." Leo whispered. The group carefully tip-toed past Splinter. 

Just when they thought they were in the clear, Splinter asked "Where are you five going?" 

"Ahh, no where, Sensei." Leo stammered. 

"I know you are going to go spy on your brother and Ms. O'Neil." Splinter chided. "And it's very rude." 

They all stared at Splinter with pleading eyes before he relented. "Fine! You can. Just be prepared to deal with the consequences if you get caught." 

"Thank you!" Rachel squealed. They all then crowded into a room connected to Splinter's to look at the security monitors. 

"Look! There they are." Mikey said, pointing to the one in the lower left hand corner. 

...

"Why wouldn't you answer me?" She asked, slightly hurt. 

He looked up at her from his table with heavy, sad eyes. "Because I know what you're going to say. You didn't want me to kiss you, you don't feel the same way, and you'd rather just be friends." He rattled off with a sad sigh. 

"That's not what I was going to say!" She blinked back a few tears. 

"Oh, so you don't even want to be friends anymore, because you think things will be too awkward. That's okay too. I can't say I'm surprised. 

"Donatello! Just listen to me! I've been really stupid. I've been ignorant and callous. I've blatantly ignored your feelings, and if it wasn't for a couple of hopeless-romantics that I call my best-girlfriends, I would have continued to ignore my own." 

"What feelings?" Donnie asked dully. 

"I-I- I like you, okay! As it has been recently been pointed out to me, you're the sweetest, funniest, _nicest_ guy I've ever met, and I like you." 

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." He replied balefully. "You won't really mean that in a week from now." 

"Dammit, Donatello Hamato! I'm serious. I would never fabricate something like this, just for the sake of 'sparing your feelings.' I know I've been totally oblivious about how you showed your affection for me in the past, and I haven't really given you any signs that I liked you before this, but I wasn't even really aware of how I felt until this morning!" A tear threatened to spill, but she wiped it away. 

"You really mean it." He asked with underlying hope. 

_"Of course_ I mean it!" Her voice cracked. 

"When did you realize it?" He asked quietly. 

"How I felt, or how you felt?" 

"Both." 

"I realized... how you felt, last night, when you came running to find me, comforted me, and sang to me, and held me, and stayed with me while I slept. I realized _my_ feelings this morning, when I was so happy that you hadn't gone back to the lab, and that I was so comfortable in your arms, and it felt so _natural_ to be cuddled next to you in your lap, and when I realized I didn't want to wake you up, so I just went back to sleep in you embrace. Deep down, I think I've always kind of known about both, since you caught me as I was falling from that helicopter, but I've just been too much of a coward to admit it." 

"As you know, I practically fell in love at first sight." Donnie got up from his inventing table, and slowly approached her. "There was just _something_ about you. Something that made you so special. I was just _instantly hooked,_ and was ready to do anything for you, although I didn't even know your name at the time. " He was standing in front of her now and he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her close to his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "What do we do now?" 

"I think this would be appropriate." She whispered. She grasped at the back of his neck and tilted her head forward before leaning up on her tip toes and pressing her lips to his. 

"Awwwww!" Ellie squealed before running out of the room. 

"Ellie? Ellie! Where are you going?" Mikey yelled before chasing after her. 

Ellie continued to evade the orange-banded ninja until she finally found the lab door and burst inside. 

"Yay! I'm so happy for you guys!" She gushed before tackling the new couple in a bear hug. 

"Ellie!" The both yelled out of embarrassment. 

**YAY! I can't believe it's really over. I hope you guys enjoyed that, because this chapter took me a whopping six and a half hours to type. I've fought through blocks, distractions, and repressed the urge to eat and use the bathroom to get this done for you guys. This story has been one crazy journey, and I've loved every second of it. I'll put the first chapter of the sequel up here whenever I get it done, although I plan on focusing on some different fandoms for a little while. I love every single one of my fans, and I am eternally grateful for your support. For one last time for this story, be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews! :')**


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